The Indians are interested in keeping outfielder and would-be Game 7 hero Rajai Davis, notes MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti reiterates that the team would also like to retain slugger Mike Napoli.
“[B]oth for Raj and Mike, we expressed our desire to potentially have them back,” Antonetti says. “And we recognize they both have alternatives, based on the years that they had, but we’re certainly open to exploring different ways where both of them could be back here.”
Davis batted a modest .249/.306/.388 in the regular season after signing a one-year, $5.25MM deal last December, but he still managed to produce good value, thanks in part to his AL-leading 43 stolen bases (and only six caught stealings). He also, of course, had that memorable Game 7 homer.
“This is the best season I’ve ever had in my Major League career,” says Davis. “That would be great if we could get us both back, especially with this group of guys.”
Davis would undoubtedly still be a good complementary piece for Cleveland, particularly given his baserunning value. It will be interesting to see whether they keep him, though, given their outfield depth. Tyler Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall and Brandon Guyer all performed well for the Indians this year and are controllable for 2017, and Guyer could potentially play center against left-handed pitching (although Cleveland used him exclusively at the corners down the stretch). The Indians also hope to have Michael Brantley healthy for next season, although his shoulder was a problem throughout the 2017 season.
‘ The Indians also hope to have Michael Brantley healthy for next season, although his shoulder was a problem throughout the 2017 season.” That should say 2016.
Even with Brantley coming back, retaining Davis makes a lot of sense. I am not sold on Naquin, even though he hit well in the regular season. What also occurred to me is that whenever he tried to throw hard this postseason he threw the ball into the ground. Did he do that during the regular season as well?
Is Abraham almonte a Free agent? If not I don’t see the Indians giving him a contract.
Davis getting a contract, not almonte.
The Indians still own his rights due to service time. I’m not sure if he’s even eligible for arbitration yet.
If they wanted him out, they could just non-tender him.
I hope Almonte is done in Cleveland, they should’ve cut ties as soon as he tested positive again.
Zimmer to could be a choice so could Greg Allen and Jose Ramirez,Michael Martinez,Crisp.
I don’t think you want to go into the season with Martinez on your roster, let alone the starting lineup. Ramirez is settled at third base, Crisp is a free agent. I must admit that I had never heard of Greg Allen, but despite the fact that he is doing really well in the AFL, he has only played half a season above A-ball and is not on the 40-man roster.
Lot of trade chatter about Allen already underway, he’s definitely being targeted in deals this offseason. Brantley, Guyer, Naquin, Zimmer, Chisenhall and Yandy Diaz are all in front of Allen, and Santander is behind him. Love Yandy by the way, once the power kicks in he’ll be a star.
Raj would be nice insurance for Brantley, but I wouldn’t pursue him now, I’d wait for Brantley to actually get hurt, as Davis wouldn’t be too hard to acquire midseason, and they’d be better to target more pitching.
Martinez has no business in the MLB, worst position player going.
Michael Martinez offers almost zilch other than taking up oxygen and a space on the bench for a better player. Doubt they could get much for him but he’s a weak hitting rally killer and automatic out.